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Peninsula school districts will have less to spend on their evil government entitlement programs thanks to "Uncle Larry" Ellison. Lawyer William Bennett successfully lobbied San Mateo County officials on Ellison's behalf to slash the property tax assessment of the Oracle founder's sixteen-acre Woodside estate. Bennett argued that because the grounds have been styled after a village in Imperial Japan, they're worth much less than the $173 million assessed. Officials agreed that the property is unbelievably tacky, and lowered the assessment to $70 million. Ellison will receive a $3 million refund on previously levied taxes — costing school districts county-wide $1.4 million.

For those of you who can't understand why a man worth a reported $26 billion would bicker and argue over a few million in property taxes, Fake Steve Jobs explains that it's a matter of principle:

[T]he thing about being obscenely rich is that everyone around you is constantly taking advantage of you and trying to chisel you at every turn. The gardeners, the maids, the Bentley mechanic, the jet mechanic, the house manager — they're constantly skinning you, and you get pretty damn sick of it.

It all goes to show that money can't buy good taste. Maybe especially in Ellison's case. (Photo by Getty/David McNew)